Original Analysis · Median household income by state
Evidence and claims checked
Top 10 states by median household income in the 2023 ACS 5-year estimates
A verified Census ACS ranking of state median household income for 2019–2023 ACS 5-year estimates.
Reader brief
What to know
District of Columbia reported the highest point estimate in this 2019–2023 ACS 5-year estimates ranking: 106287 dollars.
District of Columbia ranked first at 106287 dollars in this 2019–2023 ACS 5-year estimates ranking.
Maryland ranked 2 at 101652 dollars, 4635 dollars below District of Columbia.
Massachusetts ranked 3 at 101341 dollars, 4946 dollars below District of Columbia.
New Jersey ranked 4 at 101050 dollars, 5237 dollars below District of Columbia.
Hawaii ranked 5 at 98317 dollars, 7970 dollars below District of Columbia.
California ranked 6 at 96334 dollars, 9953 dollars below District of Columbia.
New Hampshire ranked 7 at 95628 dollars, 10659 dollars below District of Columbia.
Washington ranked 8 at 94952 dollars, 11335 dollars below District of Columbia.
Connecticut ranked 9 at 93760 dollars, 12527 dollars below District of Columbia.
Colorado ranked 10 at 92470 dollars, 13817 dollars below District of Columbia.
Summary facts
- State-level observations ranked
- 52 state-level observations
- Highest reported median household income estimate
- 106287 dollars
Ranked items
| Rank | Item | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 106287 dollars |
| 2 | Maryland | 101652 dollars |
| 3 | Massachusetts | 101341 dollars |
| 4 | New Jersey | 101050 dollars |
| 5 | Hawaii | 98317 dollars |
| 6 | California | 96334 dollars |
| 7 | New Hampshire | 95628 dollars |
| 8 | Washington | 94952 dollars |
| 9 | Connecticut | 93760 dollars |
| 10 | Colorado | 92470 dollars |
Source and methodology
State median household income point estimates from Census ACS variable B19013_001E.
- Source
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates, table B19013, state geography.
- Computation
- Validate positive integer observations, sort income descending, break equal values by state FIPS code ascending, and retain the first 10 states.
Evidence and limitations
Evidence
- Source datasetMetrics: B19013_001E
Caveats
- Point estimates: This input does not include each estimate's margin of error, so rank order does not establish statistically significant differences between states.
- Household measure: Median household income is not an individual's earnings, wage, wealth, or disposable income.
- Affordability: Income alone does not measure prices, housing costs, taxes, household composition, or overall cost of living.
- Single ACS vintage: This ranking uses one five-year estimate vintage and does not support change, trend, causal, or policy-effect claims.
Claim boundaries
Supported by this story
- the supplied state names, state FIPS codes, and B19013_001E point estimates
- the deterministic top-state order by reported point estimate with the documented tie-break
- the reviewed Census ACS dataset, vintage, variable, geography, method, and caveats
Not supported by this story
- affordability or cost-of-living conclusions
- change or trend over time
- statistical significance between ranked estimates
- causation or policy effect
- individual earnings, wages, or wealth
- rankings using margins of error or any metric other than B19013_001E
Explore places
State profiles in this report
Open a supported state profile to see the published context and caveats for that place.
- District of Columbia profile (ranked 1) →
- Maryland profile (ranked 2) →
- Massachusetts profile (ranked 3) →
- New Jersey profile (ranked 4) →
- Hawaii profile (ranked 5) →
- California profile (ranked 6) →
- New Hampshire profile (ranked 7) →
- Washington profile (ranked 8) →
- Connecticut profile (ranked 9) →
- Colorado profile (ranked 10) →